***Download my drawing portfolio here.***
Image created while filming the Conceptual Drawing Studio TV Show, c3:initiative, 2018.
My handwriting enters my work at almost every turn, and I think of drawing as a key component of how I communicate with myself, my friends, and public audiences. In 2012, I stopped making drawings, and in 2014, I started again - just using black ink on paper. Eventually I introduced blue, and in 2017, I made a drawing with purple and yellow on white paper. From there, I began using all kinds of color in my drawings. Mostly I draw on 8.5” x 11” pieces of card stock, but occasionally, I draw on walls, shirts, or canvas. I often draw live as part of my performances or other people’s events. Sometimes the drawings are free and other times they are for sale at an accessible price. You can read about my perspectives on drawing in an interview I did for Ellen Mueller’s textbook Remixing and Drawing: Sources, Influences, and Styles.
I’ve also made books related to drawing. First was Some things people thought were weird (2016) which features drawings I made of people’s responses to the question, “Did anything weird happen to you today?” Next, I produced a book of my mom’s drawings on envelopes, receipts, credit card statements, and other scraps - it’s called “How do you get rid of a forty year old bottle of perfume?” (2016). Most recently, I made a short book of drawings called “What if I was sophisticated?” (2019) which answers the question through a poem typeset in Glyphworld by Leah Maldonado.
Here I am being interviewed by the local TV station during a performance called “Wouldn’t exist without your questions” (2017) where students at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and folks from the public could ask me anything, and I responded with a drawing they got to keep for free.
In honor of sculptor Jim Gion who committed his work to making portraits of dogs, I was invited to work as a dog portrait artist at the celebration of his life which was held at the A1 Bird Bath Company (2019). I dressed up as a cement sculpture and painted free dog portraits for anyone who attended the event.
I run a small press with my partner, Spencer Byrne-Seres, and sometimes we table events with our books (and I make custom drawings for people).
This is my friend Laura holding my new book, “What if I was sophisticated?” To order it ($25 + shipping) or get a PDF ($5), email me (c.rozalyn@gmail.com).
I’ve also made public exhibitions of my drawings, such as this one, where my friend Pallavi Sen created a special dinner to eat on top of the table cloth paintings I made. This show was called “One hand holding yours, one foot in broth” (2018).
For thirty days, the curators sent me images of their space which transitioned from studio into gallery for exhibitions, and I made drawings about their daily life in the studio. Then I turned those into table cloths and napkins for a meal to be shared between friends. Instead of removing the furniture from their studio like they typically did for shows, I just covered each object with a table cloth.
I also make drawings that are uniforms for performances and paintings that are rugs.
Public performance as the director of the Conceptual Drawing Studio at c3:initiative. 2019.
Living Bibliography as part of Reading Quietly in Public, 2017.
My drawings can be props in exhibitions or gifts for collaborators. This was an award I gave to folks as part of my project, “Can art inspire me to think critically about…?” (2017).
This drawing was part of a collaborative performance, Talk to Everyone and Everything About Race, with Amanda Leigh Evans, Lisa Jarrett, and Lo Moran at Art in Odd Places NYC (2016).
This was an exhibition I designed and painted for a faculty member’s personal office, Imagine there’s a snake in every painting (2017).
I designed a mural for a public school with my friend Ralph Pugay and several middle school students.
Sometimes when I’m low on cash and I need to drive somewhere, I create opportunities for my friends and Instagram followers to purchase original drawings at very low prices so I can fund the trip. I offer unmade drawings for sale, and then as I drive, I make the drawings for specific people who’ve sent me money. Once I arrive at the final destination, I send the drawings to all the new owners.
Occasionally, I make more traditional series of drawings. This one is about being a woman who works in institutions and the rage it brings me.
I showed part of this series in a show in Ohio (2019).
This is a series of drawings I made as gifts for the faculty participants of When research can be a rainbow (2019), my exhibition at the Hoffman Gallery of Lewis & Clark College. Each drawing represents a metaphor the faculty member used during an interview with me to describe their academic research to someone outside of their discipline.
Drawing makes me gentle when I’m angry, and it gives me words when I don’t have any wind.
And this is my dog Charlie.